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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Adventure Racing vs. Church Attendance

Last weekend, I was part of a team at an Adventure Race. An Adventure Race involves biking, trekking (running/walking on trails and rough terrain), and canoeing. We followed maps to checkpoints and traveled many miles for nine hours. It was ...crazy. Fun, horrible, exhausting, exhilarating, and frustrating. I missed out on church the next day because I couldn’t quite get myself out of bed. Some would say this was a bad thing, that I should go to church no matter what, that it is my duty, that I missed out on something terribly important. Others might say, being in nature, enjoying the fellowship of friends, appreciating the gift of a healthy body are all ways of praising God and therefore the race was, in a sense, church. In the spirit of healthy competition, let’s look more closely at these arguments and tally up the results. The race is on. Which will be the winner?

Adventure Racing

More prayer happens on an adventure race (please let me make it up this hill, please don’t let me have a heart attack, thank you we didn’t just capsize when we hit that stump with our canoe, please let this be the right trail, THANK YOU FOR THE FINISH LINE!) 1 pt.

Church

Has a working bathroom just steps away. With toilet paper. And a sink. And a toilet seat on which one doesn’t mind sitting. This might be worth more than one point. 1 1/2 pts.

Adventure Racing

An opportunity to learn the value of a focal point or a mantra to achieve a meditative trance like state. The top of the hill is an excellent focal point and “oh crap, oh crap, oh crap” or “never again, never again, never again” make excellent mantras. 1 pt.

Church

Though the service might seem long, you don't actually have to pack in your own food and water. Unless you have small children. Hmm. Maybe only half a point.

Adventure Racing

Experience the power of nature as the wind consistently manages to push you in the opposite direction to wherever you are attempting to paddle the canoe. 1 pt.

Church

Praise God for the beauty of God’s creation. 1 pt.

Adventure Racing

Experience the beauty of God’s creation. 1 pt.

Church

No poison ivy or ticks. 1 pt.

Adventure Racing

No struggle to stay awake. The adrenaline produced while biking over pointy rocks really wakes a person up. 1 pt.

Church

Fellowship around coffee may barely edge out fellowship over electrolyte chews and water. Though the water tastes heavenly the fellowship is disrupted by all the wheezing and gasping. 1 pt.

Adventure Race

Enjoy the very satisfying feeling of having completed the race without bonking (a.k.a. hitting the wall). I think I bonked in regards to much of church life a long time ago. 1 pt.

Church

Pews are marginally more comfortable than a bike seat. 1 pt.

Totals: Adventure Racing= 6 points

Church= 6 points

Well, there you have it. It’s a tie! Obviously I am just having some fun here. But, I do think folks in the Christian church might do well to be a little less uptight about church attendance as the best way to experience God. Perhaps when people tell us they can experience God better in nature than at church we could rejoice with them that they are experiencing God somewhere.

3 comments:

I never have done an Adventure Race, but i agree with you. Sometimes being in nature with God is more satisfying than sitting church wishing you were outside with God. My big concern is those folks who always have a reason to stay away from church and are not communing with God at all.

I never have done an Adventure Race, but i agree with you. Sometimes being in nature with God is more satisfying than sitting church wishing you were outside with God. My big concern is those folks who always have a reason to stay away from church and are not communing with God at all.

Thanks for the comment! I hear your concern for those who don't find a way to connect to God. There are certainly people who find excuses. I just get weary of the assumption people aren't coming because they are lazy. Considering how many people nod off in the pews I wonder if the church wouldn't be a great place to go if you wanted to be lazy:)